Epilogue/End Game
Epilogue Spring 1800 After the End of the War of the First Coalition Rule by the Council of Five lasted less than a few months, quickly being eroded by internal bickering and infighting. With the destruction of the National Guard and the ultimate demobilization of the bourgeoisie as a military force, crime in Paris became rampant and assassination attempts the norm. To combat the chaos, Robespierre solidified his control under the guise of restoring order and radicalized - with clergymen, Orleanists, moderates, all who were not considered 'loyal' to the state being purged repeatedly and often (among these victims was President Louis Philippe) - until, weary of this policy and longing for Robespierre's old moderation, a military and bourgeoisie-backed coup brought Général Joseph Marie Servan de Gerbey to power as the first Consul of France, a position he now shares with a pair of previously low-ranking bureaucrats who ultimately defer to him on all matters of importance. The old Council were all found and guillotined without much ceremony, with the exception of the Marquis de Sade, who managed to escape to Brittany with his army, where he would (perhaps somewhat ironically) go into hiding and continues to operate a bandit and marauder operation from to this day. The campaigns in Italy and the Netherlands would be noted for their decisively feudal aftermath. The Italian campaign, led by Général Ney, ultimately brought all of northern Italy into France's sphere - and the wealth of the Italian duchies and merchant republics into Ney's pockets. Though nominally under the control of Paris, Ney managed to ultimately serve as governor of the territory, playing off of several marginalized groups' distrust for one another and using the Pope for his own purposes. To the north, Général André Masséna did something similar, though he had less direct control - the client Batavian Republic was ultimately led by his friend and ally, Herman Willem Daendels. Though the country was ultimately his for as long as he was alive, when Charles Armand Tuffin died of natural causes in early 1798, it left Queen Marie Terese as ultimate authority in the kingdom. All campaigns to put down Brittany failed spectacularly, with British aid solidifying in the face of the sheer weight of the Breton victory. Brittany remains at war with France, its Queen having married (not without objections) her cousin, something that could possibly reunite the two thrones should France's ever be restored. The comte de Provence managed to secure the Maine region for his royalist rebellion in the early part of 1793 and continued to hold it for a little over a year, until de Gerbey finally moved to deal with the threat. The Comte was defeated but escaped with his life, having fled to the United Kingdom where he continues to plot and scheme for France's throne to this day. He has already been blamed by Republican propaganda for thirty separate murders within the country. The Minister of Intelligence was rarely seen, and rarely worked directly with the government, but he was always considered too valuable and too dangerous to risk replacing, and so he maintained his post and does to this day. The exact nature of his intricately woven web of intrigue will probably never be revealed, but many believe he actively played a part in many of the decisive moments in the early years of the Republic's history. Babeuf's failure ultimately condemned his ideology in the years following Louis XVI's execution. His followers who remained in the Roux-led Enrages were either purged or 'converted' to the more mainstream, if still loud, rhetoric of the Jacobins. Many pretenders would claim to be Louis XVII in the aftermath of his supposed assassination by his uncle, the failure to produce an identifiable body a real cause for concern among the republicans. One particular revolt was led by the old commander of the Swiss Guard and his friend, a believed dead demonologist. They managed to create the "Kingdom of Heaven", located exclusively in Paris' inner city, before being shot and killed by the restored National Guard. The incident represents the height of populist, reactionary sentiment within France, though there were many others that followed in their footsteps. Austria and the other coalition powers were forced by Bernadotte to sign a fairly humiliating peace with France after being humiliated on the battlefield, near Verdun, by the Army of the Rhine. The German territories all along the Rhine became French, with several of the German dukes and electors effectively becoming French puppets. Britain maintained its policy of perpetual war with France, funding enemies and rebels where it could, but even as 1800 draws to a close the British Empire stands alone against the French menace. The Ottoman Empire, on the verge of collapse, ultimately loses its Syrian and Egyptian provinces to a resurgent Mameluke class in Egypt. Russia directly annexes Georgia and creates an independent Kingdom of Trebizond along the Pontic coast, led by a member of the Phanar Greek "nobility". America continued to be a chaotic hellhole for many years to come. Not many records exist on what happened to Haiti; it is likely that no one really cared. The Swedish spy ring that operated out of northern France was ultimately discovered and eradicated by a persistent campaign of vengeance initiated by Robespierre and finished by the Consulate. The Swedes were subsequently embarrassed on the world stage, but not enough so to stop their efforts - their agents and vessels were seen smuggling goods into besieged German cities as late as 1798. Marie Gouze, in early 1796, declared an independent, free, and moderate republic located in Marseilles. Though the British were quick to funnel support to her cause, she quickly found herself juggling too many separate and vehemently at odds factions. She was escorted away from France by British ships and granted a modest but comfortable estate and pension in Yorkshire. Louis Philippe II retired to a small home in Belgium, where he amused himself by playing board games with only himself as the opponent. He found the challenge difficult, but satisfying, and yet still spent many hours of the night wondering and worrying about what he might do to himself next. He often quit these games only a day or two after starting them. TOP 3 MARQUIS: 1. The Marquis de Sade 2. The Marquis de Lafayette 3. The Marquis de la Rouërie